Well this week end was just like last time, 95 degree heat (in the shade), track delays, lack of sleep, etc. I got to the track at 8:30 in the morning and elimination rounds didnt start till 5:30! Geeezzz!! I was so close to just going home and sitting in front of the air conditioner, guess I'm glad I didn't do that. Read on to find out how I won the 1st place trophy.

Basic tune:

Timing set at 14 degrees

Shift points at 5000 rpms

Water temperature approximately 180 degrees

17 psi Air pressure in rear tires

10 psi in air bag

Time Trial Number 1

Lane:

left

Reaction time:

.486

60 ft:

2.032

330 ft:

5.916

660 ft:

9.152

660 ft mph:

75.61 mph

1000 ft:

------

1/4 mile:

14.379

1/4 mile mph:

93.57 mph

Well Heartland Parks timing clocks were having some problems so I was only able to make one decent time trial, and on all of my runs the 1000 ft clocks were not working at all. As for the slow ETs you can blame the weather for that one. Geezzz almost not worth going.

When first round finally came around I was so tired I didn't care if I won or lost. Well I did my usually first round thing and played it safe at the tree. Check it out.

1st Round

Dial in:

14.37

Lane:

left

Reaction time:

.730

60 ft:

2.039

330 ft:

5.924

660 ft:

9.166

660 ft mph:

73.88 mph

1000 ft:

------

1/4 mile:

14.407

1/4 mile mph:

92.14

My Opponent

opponents dial in:

16.41

opponents lane:

right obviously

opponents RT:

.644

opponents 60 ft:

2.560

opponents 330 ft:

7.055

opponents 1/8 mile ET:

10.717

opponents 1/8 mile mph:

66.91 mph

opponents 1000 ft:

------

opponents 1/4 ET:

16.619

opponents 1/4 mph:

83.18 mph

At the end of the track I was ahead of the guy so at the very last second I hit the brakes, as you can see by the 92.14 mph. It is possible that if I hadnt hit the brakes I may have ran exactly on my dial. The margin of victory was 0.086 so I had him covered by almost a 1/10th.

When 2nd round finally came around (an hour and 10 minutes later) I was so tired from being in the sun for almost 10 hours, I was seriously thinking of losing on purpose so I could go home. Well when I went down to the staging lanes I got a surprise, I got the bye run for the next round! Well now I started thinking, it was basically a free ride into the semi finals, why not at least try to win?

2nd Round

Dial in:

14.37

Lane:

left

Reaction time:

.562

60 ft:

2.051

330 ft:

5.955

660 ft:

9.206

660 ft mph:

73.82 mph

1000 ft:

------

1/4 mile:

14.451

1/4 mile mph:

93.15

Bye Run

opponents dial in:

-----

opponents lane:

-----

opponents RT:

-----

opponents 60 ft:

-----

opponents 330 ft:

-----

opponents 1/8 mile ET:

-----

opponents 1/8 mile mph:

-----

opponents 1000 ft:

-----

opponents 1/4 ET:

-----

opponents 1/4 mph:

-----

Well the car slowed down a bit, but not a whole lot so I figure it was just the wind or something. Moving on...

3rd round came around and boy was I ready. I tried to play it sly and pretend I didnt care if I won or lost to make the other guy feel a little relaxed. I think I even told him that I wished he would beat me so I could go home. Sucker.

3rd Round

Dial in:

14.42

Lane:

left

Reaction time:

.668

60 ft:

2.036

330 ft:

5.942

660 ft:

9.205

660 ft mph:

73.50 mph

1000 ft:

------

1/4 mile:

14.489

1/4 mile mph:

91.78

My Opponent

opponents dial in:

14.65

opponents lane:

right obviously

opponents RT:

.709

opponents 60 ft:

2.088

opponents 330 ft:

5.997

opponents 1/8 mile ET:

9.328

opponents 1/8 mile mph:

73.45 mph

opponents 1000 ft:

------

opponents 1/4 ET:

14.736

opponents 1/4 mph:

90.14 mph

At the end of the track both me and the other driver hit the brakes and obviously I won, hehe. The margin of victory was 0.058 so it was fairly close, but what matters is that I am now in the finals.

Eleven hours after I arrived at the track I was lining up to run the final round. There was a very scary looking thunderstorm heading our way and I was a little worried that it would hit before we could run, but we made it in time. As I was waiting in the staging lanes I was talking to my opponent, who had a 60 mile drive thru the storm to get home, and he said he was ready to leave. I told him he could just go ahead and leave if he wanted, but he didn't like that idea too much.

Final Round

Dial in:

14.42

Lane:

right

Reaction time:

.549

60 ft:

2.039

330 ft:

5.950

660 ft:

9.213

660 ft mph:

74.88 mph

1000 ft:

------

1/4 mile:

14.501

1/4 mile mph:

90.68

My Opponent

opponents dial in:

14.25

opponents lane:

left obviously

opponents RT:

.623

opponents 60 ft:

2.048

opponents 330 ft:

5.816

opponents 1/8 mile ET:

9.022

opponents 1/8 mile mph:

75.58 mph

opponents 1000 ft:

------

opponents 1/4 ET:

14.268

opponents 1/4 mph:

87.95 mph

Once again we were both on the brakes when we went thru the traps. The margin of victory- 0.011 Wow, thats close! Lower on the page you can see what I got to take home with me, a neato 1st place trophy! Coming into this race I was in 7th place in the points standings, now I should be either in 3rd or 4th place. To win the 1st place points title I will have to win again or hope that the guys that are ahead of me all go out in the first round, or better yet don't even show up!